In October 2015, the Office of Tech Transfer became merged with the WesternU Office of Innovation Development. The new name, therefore, for the Office of Tech Transfer will be the WesternU Office of Innovation Development (Tech Transfer).

Both WesternU Ventures and the Office of Technology Transfer are divisions of the Office of the VP for Research and Biotechnology.

The WesternU Office of Innovation Development (Tech Transfer)

Traci Meyer has been with WesternU for ten years and with the Office of Tech Transfer for approximately two years. She works with the Provost’s Office, faculty, and various other departments to manage intellectual property. Meyer has training in general biology via her undergraduate education. She became interested in intellectual property in law school and brings this interest in science to her work with the Office of Innovation Development (Tech Transfer) at WesternU.

Intellectual Property Committee (IPC)

When new intellectual property is discovered by the office, the work is presented to an intellectual property committee. The committee, comprised of faculty, hears the presentations of faculty-inventors for review.

WCDD – External Business Partnerships

The WCDD was founded/ chaired by Provost Gary Gugelchuk. This committee formerly contained the office of Ventures/ Tech Transfer and was the main business entity working with third party business. This included licensing, document review, and trademarks. Many duties formerly that fell under the umbrella of the WCDD now fall under the office of WesternU Ventures.

New Discoveries

Guru Betageri, PhD, assistant dean of the Graduate College of Biomedical Sciences, has formed a partnership with Tesorex for a drug with a unique route of administration involving male hormones. Typically, these have been available via a dermal patch and not available through the oral route of administration.

Moses Chow, MD, and colleagues have been doing some interesting work with traditional chinese medicine